Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Cousins
by WogglebugLover-AvengingAtheist
Summary: The seven dwarfs seven cousins come to visit them. The cousins all have personalities complimentary of their names as do the others. Snow White soon comes as well and invites them all to visit her and her Prince in the castle.
1. Chapter 1

It was a warm and sunny morning in earl Spring as the seven dwarfs were marching through the forest on their way to work in the diamond mine. They sang heartily as they went along.

_"Hi ho! Hi ho!  
It's off to work we go!"_

Doc, who was their leader at the head of the line, stopped short suddenly and the others all bumped into each other as they all stopped in turn.

"Look!" Doc exclaimed as he pointed upward. "It's our briend the Flue Fird – er – it's our friend the Blue Bird! He seems to have a letter for us today."

They looked up, and, sure enough, there was a bird as blue as a robin's egg flying down towards them and carrying a letter in its beak. It swooped down in a graceful arc and landed momentarily on Doc's shoulder and deposited the letter into his outreaching hand, and then bowed and flew swiftly away again.

"What does it say?" asked Happy very eagerly.

Doc read the letter out loud to them as he was the only one of them who could read at all. "It says," he began and continued,

_ "Dear cousins, Doc, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Grumpy, and Dopey,_

_ We hope you are doing well as we are, with the exception of one or two of us maybe. We write to you now as we haven't been together in a very long time. Too long, we decided. And so we have all decided to come to your forest and visit you for this weekend._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Your cousins, Jumpy, Blabby, Gloomy, Awful, Helpful, Silly, and Bigo-ego"._

"Hey! Our cousins are coming to visit us soon!" Doc exclaimed happily.

"Hooray!" exclaimed Happy.

"A family reunion!" said Bashful beaming.

"Just what we need!" said Grumpy with a huff, "Seven more mouths to feed!"

"It will only be for the weekend," Doc said to Grumpy, "and I know you enjoy being with our relatives as much we all do."

"But why does it have to be them?" Grumpy continued. "You know how Jumpy is always jumping up and down all the time. Blabby always talks about everything and nothing at the same time. Gloomy is always so depressed even on better days. Silly is second next to Dopey on intelligence. Bigo-ego is also bragging about himself. And don't even get me started on Awful, why the last time he was here..."

"I know, Grumpy!" Doc cut him off impatiently. "We all know. But hey, none of us are without our faults. And they are what makes us all unique, so we might as well live with them."

"Humph!" Grumpy sniffed huffily.

"I can hardly wait!" said Bashful. "I sure wish Snow White could come and meet them."

"Well, you never know, maybe she will get to meet them," Doc suggested brightly.

The dwarfs then continued on their way to the diamond mine. They then worked heartily and swiftly so as to finish early today so that they could get home with time enough to fix up their cottage for their soon to come guests.

When they got home from work late in the afternoon that day they saw that they had managed to make a fine mess of their little home since Snow White and left with her Prince. Things were out of place all a round them, dirty dishes were piled high in the kitchen, and not too mention the dust and the cobwebs and gathered up all over again.

"Well," Doc said with an air of importance, "I see there is much work to do around here."

"If we could only get it all done in time for tomorrow," Sleepy said with a very tired yawn.

Just then they heard noises of chirping and twittering coming from behind them. They turned around and saw to their joy there was a bunch of birds, chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits standing just behind them. All with very eager looking expressions on their faces.

"Well," said Happy with a hearty chuckle, "it looks like here is the answer to our problem."

"Well, then come on! Let's get to work!" said Doc cheerily.

So then the dwarfs along with their animal friends set about cleaning and fixing up their house. Sleepy and Sneezy began sweeping up the dust from the floor and the stairs, and it wasn't long before Sneezy sneezed a sneeze so might it blew all of the dust out the door. Then Grumpy mopped the floors and washed the windows and made them shine and sparkle. At the same time a few squirrels and little birds dusted within the hard to reach corners and got rid of the cobwebs. And Dopey and Doc piled up the dirty dishes and washed and dried them thoroughly.

When they were quite done their small home was beautiful inside once again. They were also all quite tired and worn out, especially Sleepy, and so they all went upstairs and retired for the night to their beds.

It was very early the next morning when the dwarfs awakened and as they were coming downstairs they heard a loud chorus coming toward their house from up over the hillside. Doc rushed up to the window and looking out he exclaimed, "Our cousins are here! Our cousins are here!"

Then they all rushed outside to greet their relatives. They watched the other seven dwarfs come up the pathway as they sang out,

"_Hi ho! Hi ho!  
It's off to visit we go!"_

Then as soon as they were close enough both sets of seven dwarfs ran towards each other and soon they were colliding with each other in armfuls of hugs and much back patting.

"Hello, Dopey!" said Silly to his closest cousin in his high pitched shrill voice. "You still can't talk?" Dopey shook his head smiling.

Dopey and Silly then embraced and then linked arms and twirled each other around in a very outright comical dance.

Jumpy was jumping up and down all over the place as he went around giving everyone pats on the back and exclaiming, "We're so happy to be here! We're so happy to be here!"

"We sure are, indeed," began Blabby. "We've been apart for so long we missed you all a lot. We finally thought to ourselves that we ought to come here to visit you all and catch up on old times like we used to. And we traveled for days and days on end, we did. We were wondering if whether or not you had received our letter as we knew bluebirds are not exactly homing pigeons, of course. But we wanted to come very much and so we did and now here we are! It is so good to see you all again, did we mention? We hope you have all been doing well as we have ourselves. We were wondering if..."

"Aw, shut up already will ya!" yelled Grumpy in great irritation.

Happy stepped up to Gloomy and patted his shoulder as he asked, "How have you been doing?"

Gloomy sighed deeply with his eyes drooping sadly. "The same as ever," he said gloomily. "It's the same old routine every day. Get up, go to work, come home, eat and then go to bed. Nothing fun ever happens in our lives anymore. But then I can't remember the last time anything exciting ever did happen in my life."

A dwarf who was slightly taller and more rotund in the middle than the others approached Doc and said, "Hello cousin. How are you? Are you still working in the diamond mines like before, and are you also in charge like before?"

"Well, yes," said Doc. Then before he could say more Bigo-Ego gave a huff and squared his shoulders and stuck out his tummy as he said rather loudly,

"Well, I don't see why I couldn't have stayed with you and become the leader in charge and also worked in the diamond mines! I am the tallest one after all."

"But don't you take charge well enough with the others in the coal mines you work in?" inquired Doc.

Well, yes. But I would prefer diamond mines to the dark and dirty coal mines we work in," Bigo-Ego said stoutly. "In fact, if you will allow us to accompany you to the diamond mines today I will be more than happy to show you!"

"Well, we were just about to go there anyway, so," Doc began but then Bigo-Ego cut him off again.

"Good! Then let us be on our way there, shall we?"

He then gathered all fourteen dwarfs up in a straight line and began leading them down to the diamond mines.

"Don't you mind, Biggy," whispered the dwarf who was called Helpful to Doc as he stood behind him. "He just likes to have all the attention he can get."

When they reached the diamond mines they quickly set to work after Bigo-Ego gave them all instructions on where each one of them would dig for diamonds. They then began digging at their own pace.

Jumpy jumped up and down and down and all around as he hammered away at rocks. Gloomy could barely lift his pick and as he chipped away little bits of rock he sighed long and often. Blabby often talked as he worked about how frustrating it must be when they didn't find anything and how exhilarating it must also be when they did. Silly swung his pick to and fro against any rocks he could reach and once he nearly struck someone on the head with it. Helpful dug away at a fast and brisk pace and gathered up quickly the diamonds he found shoved them onto the line for examination.

At the examination line Doc was trying to look at what diamonds he could, but Bigo-Ego was once again interrupting him.

"I am telling you Doc boy," he was saying, "I am a beneficent expert at diamond examination. I can spot a real one from a fake one a mile away or more!"

"But I'm telling you, I know what I'm doing around here," Doc said tiredly. "And please don't call me Doc boy!" he added irritably.

When their work was through at the end of the day they all stashed away the diamonds they had found and lined up to go home again, singing in chorus as they went along.

"_Hi ho! Hi ho!_

_It's home from work we go!"_

When they got home very late in the afternoon, Doc set about cooking their dinner, and once again, Bigo-Ego was wanting to take his place.

"I'm telling you, cousin," he said, "I can cook fifteen meals for fifteen dwarfs all at once. I know how better than anyone to..."

"Quiet!" Doc exclaimed in exasperation. "I will cook our meal for tonight, thank you very much!"

Bigo-Ego gave a loud huff as he joined the others at the table

"Maybe you can cook tomorrow night," suggested Helpful, and Bigo-Ego relaxed a bit then.

Then as Doc served them their dinner they began to tell each other all about what had happened while they were apart.

"Just a few months ago," said Happy, "a princess named Snow White came to stay with us."

"Snow White? That sound like a name for a disease," muttered the dwarf who was called Awful.

Doc shot him a glare and then took up the story. "You see, she had run away from her castle because the Queen who was her stepmother was very wicked and wanted to kill her. So we agreed to let her stay with us."

"She taught us many things," said Bashful. "Like how to wash our hands and how to eat soup properly."

Jumpy bounced on the edge of his chair. "Where is this beautiful princess now?" he asked eagerly.

"The Queen came here in disguise and gave her a poisoned apple," Grumpy said solemnly, "and we thought she had died, but then a prince by the name of Charming who she knew found her and gave her love's first kiss and she came back to life. Then," here he sighed softly as he remembered, "Then she rode off into the sunset with him to his castle."

"So you haven't seen her since then?" asked Gloomy.

"Yes, we have in fact," said Doc. "We were invited to her wedding and she has visited once or twice since then."

"She left you?!" exclaimed Awful. "Why she must have been a most ungrateful wench to do such a thing!"

"She was not!" said Bashful very indignantly.

"No," said Doc. "She just wanted to be with her Prince, she had told us before then that she did. And so we respect her wishes."

"But you took her in when she was in need," Awful continued, "and became like a family to her, so she shouldn't have abandoned you like that."

"But she didn't abandon us!" said Happy very upset. "We told you we still get to see her. In fact, I think it's just about time for her annual visit to us."

"Why, that's right!" said Doc. "So it is."

"You'll get to meet her!" said Bashful joyfully.

"I'll look forward to that," said Jumpy bouncing up again.


	2. Chapter 2

The very next morning as the dwarfs and their cousins awakened to the sound of horses clomping up over the hill. They knew at once it meant Snow White had arrived. They all leaped out of their beds, which were a bit crowded as they had each had to share their bed with one of their cousins, and scurried down the stairs and hastened out the door. They were just in time to watch as the golden carriage being driven by six golden brown royal horses came up the pathway to their cottage.

When the carriage had stopped just short of their house, the door opened and Snow White stepped outside of it with dainty footsteps. She looked exactly as she had when they first met her and she wore the same smile as she always did around them. They all rushed forward and they all caught her in one big loving embrace with all of their short and stubby arms.

"Welcome back, fair princess," said Doc looking up at her beaming.

"It's always good to see you all again," said Snow White as she bent down and hugged them all back. "You are all like my extended family." She then looked up and noticed the seven other dwarfs standing in a row just in front of the house. They were looking at her with curiosity and admiration. "Oh my!" she said. "I never knew there were more of you! How do you do? When did you get here?"

"May we introduce to you our seven cousins," said Doc. He extended his left arm and gestured to each cousin in turn.

"This is Jumpy," he said as Jumpy jumped up and down in an excited way.

"This is Gloomy," he said as Gloomy nodded and managed a weak smile for a second.

"This is Helpful," he said as Helpful took off his cap and bowed low and grandly to her.

"This is Silly," he said as Silly held his tongue out and panted like a puppy-dog and wiggled his ears toward Snow White to show he thought she was a sight to behold.

"This is Bigo-Ego," he said as Bigo-Ego straightened his shoulders and puffed out his chest and nodded towards Snow White.

"This is Awful," he said as Awful squinted his slightly beady eyes at Snow White in a way that seemed almost suspicious.

"This is Blabby," Doc continued, and Blabby began talking very fast.

"Hello, and how do you do, my fair princess? I must say you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in all of my years. Not that I've seen that many as I don't get around that much. That is very pretty dress you have on also, might I add. It looks to be made of silk and satin, isn't it? You have hair as black as night that goes well with your lily complexion and fits your beautiful name so perfectly indeed. You may have noticed all our names reflect on us as well."

Snow White laughed melodically and said, "Yes, I have noticed. I'm very glad to meet you all very much. You're all so wonderful."

Helpful then stepped up to her and said, "If there is anything I can do for you, Princess, anything at all, you just let me know."

"Never mind him," said Bigo-Ego stoutly. "Anything Helpful can do for you I can do better. Do I not look like the most capable person you have ever seen?"

Then before Snow White could reply, Silly ran up to her and took her hand and began kissing it and all the way up her arm in away that tickled and she giggled. He then did the worst French accent ever as he murmured, "In-shant-e, mid-mo-zel!"

Snow White just giggled politely and said, "My you're so sweet."

Awful frowned as he stepped up to Snow White and looked up at her and said in a warning tone, "You don't fool me for a moment. I'm onto you, Princess!"

Snow White just smiled at him sweetly, and then before Awful could make things any worse Doc quickly said, "Well, now what are we standing around here for? Let's go inside and have a welcoming party for Snow White!"

To this they all agreed. And then Snow White said, "Wait just a minute now. I have brought something for each of you." She then went back to the carriage for a moment and opened up the door to the back seat where they found seven pies wrapped up neatly in white cloth. "They're gooseberry pies I made myself," she said. "If I'd only known about your cousins being here today I would have made seven more."

"That is quite alright," said Doc. "We can share one with another."

They were all quite delighted with the pies and they took them inside and at them contentedly with each other.

"So, how are you and your Prince Charming at your castle?" asked Bashful curiously.

"We're fine," said Snow White. "We are still living in our happily ever after."

"What does happily ever after mean?" asked Silly naively.

"It means we are living happily together and we will for the rest of our lives," replied Snow White in a dreamy voice.

"So what do you and the Prince do when you're at the Castle?" asked Sleepy with a wide yawn.

"We walk through the royal gardens and sing with the birds who come there," said Snow White. "And we read about and study other lands we will visit in the royal library. We do quite a bit of traveling from time to time, which is why I'm not able to see you as often as I'd like. We also have many parties with lots of food and dancing, though still I prefer the simple parties you have here when I come."

Then, as if on cue, Grumpy took a seat on the bench at the pipe organ and began playing out a lively tune on it.

Then they all got up and began dancing around the floor with each other. They then began to sing a song together.

"_Tra-la-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la-la!_

_You're never too old to be young!_

_You're never too old to be young!_

_When you start to lose your figure_

_And your hips start getting bigger_

_Your chest may slip, but don't you fret_

_No matter how weak your knees may get_

_You're never too old to be young!_

_When your teeth fall out _

_And your whiskers grow out_

_And your arch gives away_

_You're never too old to be young and gay!_

_When you ain't got any fuzz up on your dome_

_On your dome!_

_When you ain't got any fuzz up on your dome_

_On your dome!_

_Why the dickens should you care,_

_If you ain't got any hair_

_You'll never have to use a brush or a comb!_

_Oh, you're never too old to be young!_

_Tra-la-la-la-la!_

_You're never too old to be young!_

_While your voice may break_

_And you looks will shake_

_You can laugh the tears away_

_For you're never too old to be young and gay!"_

Snow White clapped her hands heartily as they finished their song. "That was delightful!" she said. "I always feel like I'm a little girl again when I'm with you."

"I did sing better than any of the others did, didn't I?" asked Bigo-Ego?

"What are you talking about?" asked Doc. "Your voice is too loud and deep to be good at singing."

"Now, now, now! There's no need to bicker," Snow White broke in. "You all sang equally as well."

"It was so wonderful to meet you, Princess," said Gloomy in a very sad voice. "We wish you didn't have to leave so soon tomorrow."

Then all of the dwarfs faces began to sadden with this knowledge. Snow White noticed this and after thinking a moment she said,

"You've never been to my castle before, have you? Well, why don't you all come with me home to see it tomorrow? And you can stay as long as you want to."

"We can?" they all asked eagerly in unison.

"You mean us to?" asked Silly waving his arms out to include the seven cousins.

Snow White nodded smiling and then for the second time that day all of the dwarfs ran up to her and hugged her all together.


	3. Chapter 3

It was early the next morning when when Snow White and all fourteen of the dwarfs climbed into the horse-drawn carriage and headed towards the castle.

"This is very generous of you, Princess," said Gloomy. "But are you sure you have enough room at your castle to hold all of us?"

Snow White giggled and replied, "Of course I do! There's more than enough room for all of you there."

Then after a few few more miles they all saw how they needn't have worried as the castle was as enormous as it was tall. It was also more beautiful than any of them could have imagined it to be.

They stopped in front of the castle gates and after Snow White got out first and then unloaded all of the dwarfs from the carriage's compartments, Prince Charming came outside to greet them.

"Welcome home, Snow White!" he said. "I see you've brought our little friends back with you for a visit... but I thought there were only seven of them. It looks like there is twice as many here."

"There are," Snow White explained. "You see, these are their cousins who also came to visit them."

"Oh," said Charming. "Well, they are all more than welcome to spend a day or two here at the castle. I'll go tell our servants to show them to their rooms."

"Please, Charming, if it's not too much trouble I would like to show them to their rooms myself as I think they might be more comfortable that way," Snow White said.

Charming smiled with understanding. "Of course, my dear."

So then Snow White showed the dwarfs into the castle and they began walking up a long and high staircase to another level of the castle where the guest rooms were located.

As they walked along Snow White said to them, "It's so good to have you all here now. There is going to be a party held here tonight and I have a surprise for Charming at it and with you all here it will be all the more special."

"What kind of a surprise is it going to be?" asked Happy very eagerly.

"I can't tell you," Snow White said with a sweet smile. "Or it wouldn't be a surprise."

They then reached the top of the staircase and started to walk down a long hallway. Along the way they saw many paintings on the walls and also a long line of stone busts perched on tall stools along the way. Dopey and Silly who were at the ends of the lines stopped and looked at the line of busts.

"What are these?" asked Silly curiously.

"Those? They're statue busts of the heads of our royal ancestors," explained Snow White.

"You mean you and the Prince beheaded them?" asked Awful.

"Oh no!" Snow White assured him. "These were sculpted and made out of stone."

Silly then ran his finger down the side of the face of one of the busts and said, "They seem to be covered with dust."

"Dust!" exclaimed Sneezy in horror. "Oh no! Anything but that! You know I can't stand it! I ca... AH-AH-AH-ACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sneezy sneezed a sneeze with so much force of wind it knocked the bust nearest to him sideways and in turn it knocked over the bust beside it and this continued all down the long line of busts.

Snow White watched this procession in horror. "Oh dear!" she exclaimed. "What will Charming say if any of these get broken!"

Then at once Helpful rushed to the end of the long line of falling busts and he held out his hands to them and so as the very last one fell he caught it and then carefully pushed it back and then it and all the other busts fell back again on their perches on the stools and stood still once again.

Everyone was very relieved, especially Snow White. "Whew!" she breathed putting a hand to her forehead. "That was close! Now we had better hurry along. This way."

She then led them into a set of two rooms at the end of the long hallway. She opened each one and said, "Here you are. Now just make yourselves comfortable and I'll send for a servant to come and tell you when the party is about to begin tonight."

With that Snow White left them and the two sets of seven dwarfs entered each room on either side. In them they each found a huge bed, bigger and wider than any they had seen before and also a balcony to the right of them from where the sun was shining through.

"Gosh! I've never seen such a big room before," said Jumpy as he humped up and down in his excitement. "Or such a big bed."

"That is because it's called a King sized bed!" said Bigo-Ego. "I must say this Princess sure does know how to treat her guests!"

Then after they had seen there rooms they met each other outside in the hallway again.

"Well, I have to admit this place isn't nearly as bad as I had thought it would be initially," admitted Grumpy to the others.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" asked Jumpy. "I want to do something before the party starts."

Sleepy gave a great big tired yawn and said, "How about take a nap? Those beds sure do look nice and comfy."

"No, no!" exclaimed Jumpy. "I want to do something fun!"

"Then why don't we go exploring the other rooms around here?" suggested Doc. "I'm sure we're bound to find all kinds of interesting things in a place like this."

To this everyone readily agreed to. So then they set off down the hallway and began looking into the other rooms. The first rooms they found were only other bedrooms. Then they opened one room that had a pink crown painted on the door and entered it to find a long and wide dressing table made of highly polished oak wood and countless vanity accessories all around it such as perfumes, combs and brushes, makeups. There was also a huge oval shaped mirror attached to the wall over the dressing table. It was framed with gold. They also saw a row of fancy white powdered royal wigs sitting on top of faceless busts along the dressing table.

The dwarfs curiosity was much aroused by everything in this room and so they entered it. They went up to the mirror and looked into it. Bigo-ego got up in front of them all and struck a pose in front of the mirror as he said,

"Well, look at me! Now tell me who is the handsomest dwarf in all of the world!"

Then all of s sudden to their great surprise a face appeared in the mirror. It was shaped like a mask with hollow eyes and mouth and was glowing a bright green and green smoke was also surrounding it. It then spoke to Bigo-ego in a very chilling and sincere voice.

"You may be very handsome to yourself, but to others they cannot see past the hugeness of your belly."

All of the dwarfs all at once broke out into laughter then, except for Bigo-ego who just turned away and humphed as he crossed his arms over his stout chest and muttered, "Stupid talking mirror."

"What are these?" asked Bashful as he looked at the wigs.

"They look like big pieces of hair to me," said Doc. "And it looks like we need these if I d say so myself," he added as he took off his cap and revealed his bald head.

All of the dwarfs agreed to this. Then they each took a wig off of its stand and put it on their heads. They then all began laughing at each other.

"Hey, you look like a girl, Dopey!" Silly exclaimed as he pointed at Dopey's hugely tall white wig with tiny red ribbons in it.

"Well, we all do," said Grumpy grumpily. "I feel so ridiculous in this thing."

"Well," said Doc, "perhaps these are too fancy for us anyway. Now come on let's go look somewhere else."

Then as they started to leave the dressing room, Dopey noticed what he thought looked like a stick of red cherry candy standing up on the dressing table. Eagerly he picked it up and put it it into his mouth only to be met with a most foul taste. He stuck his tongue out as he gagged and put the red candy stick back on the table and wiped the redness it left on his mouth off.

The dwarfs then entered into a room at the very end of the hallway. When they opened the door to it they found a large and colorfully decorated room. The walls were all painted blue and pink rather like a beautiful sunset. In one corner there was a strange looking small bed with bars along the sides, and what looked like a miniature wooden horse in another corner.

"Gosh," said Bashful. "What kind of room is this."

"I have no idea," admitted Doc.

They then entered into the room and Dopey went straight up to the horse and jumped onto it. He then began rocking back and forth on it merrily. Silly then went over to the strange looking little bed and got into it, it was a bit of a tight squeeze and then he said, "This feels very comfy," and started sucking on his thumb.

"I wonder what is in here?" wondered Happy as he noticed another large door in the room. He reached up and opened it and inside he found to him immense surprise many very tiny gowns and dresses hanging off of hooks in it, and on the floor underneath them at his feet there were tiny little bears and bunnies and other animals.

"Why, I've never seen clothes this size before," Happy said. "They're even too small for us."

"Why do you think Snow White has a room in the castle with these things in them?" asked Bashful curiously.

"I don't know," said Doc. Then he thought for a momenta and his face lit up with realization. "Yes, I do! Snow White is going to have a baby!"

"A baby?" all the other dwarfs said in unison.

"What is a baby?" asked Bashful curiously.

Doc did his best to explain. "They are tiny little people, smaller than any of us, but they are as small as everyone starts out to be. They are very soft and sweet and just a bundle of joy! And two people make them when they fall in love and get married."

"Aw..." cooed Bashful. "That is so nice."

Snow White and Prince Charming are so lucky to be having one," said Happy with a beaming smile.

Just then they started to hear footsteps echoing from down the hall outside of the room they were in.

"Someone is coming!" Doc said urgently. "Quick, let's get back to our rooms."

And so they did. They all rushed out of the room as quietly as they could and raced down the hallway and went back into their respective bedrooms and closed the doors, They were not a moment too soon for it was only a few minutes later when each of their doors were knocked on by one of the servants.

"Good evening," he said formally to them. "I have been sent to inform you dinner is about to be held along with the royal party in honor of Queen Snow White."

The fourteen dwarfs followed behind the servant down the long staircase in an orderly fashion. Once they were down the stairs they went into the dining hall which was far bigger than any of them could have ever imagined. They found Snow White and Prince Charming mixed in an enormous crowd of finely dressed people talking amongst each other. When Snow White spotted them she smiled and went over to them and led them up to the important looking people.

"Everyone," she said in her most regal voice, "I would like you to meet some very dear friends of mine. These are the seven dwarfs, Doc, Bashful, Sneezy, Sleepy, Happy, Dopey, and Grumpy, and their seven cousins, Jumpy, Blabby, Silly, Awful, Helpful, Gloomy, and Bigo-Ego. I consider them all to be my extended family as well as my most honored guests."

Then the dwarfs nodded and bowed to the other guests before them. Bashful twisted his beard in his hands as he blushed a crimson red. Bigo-Ego stood up very straight and puffed out his chest as he strutted around shaking hands with everyone within reach. Many of the guests regarded the dwarfs with curiosity and graciousness, while a few others just stared at them in a way as if to ask why they were so short and stout.

Shortly afterward, everyone headed up to the dining table where the royal banquet was served. It consisted of more food than any of the dwarfs had ever seen before and it all looked as savory and delicious as it tasted much to their delight. What also pleased them was the light music that was played for them by three riyal minstrels nearby.

About halfway through the banquet, Snow White tapped on her goblet with her spoon and got everyone's attention. She then stood up and made her important announcement.

"Everyone," she began. "Friends and courtiers, and dwarfs, and especially my beloved Prince Charming, I have a very important announcement to make for all of you here. It has just recently been revealed to me by the royal physician that I'll be expecting a new royal heir soon, that is to say I am now with child."

Everyone around the room gasped and smiled as they murmured their congratulations to the royal couple while the dwarfs simply smile and nodded looking like they'd known it all the time. Then Prince Charming stood up and said,

"Oh, darling! This is just splendid. You've made my dream come true." And with that he kissed her.

Then Snow White continued with her speech saying, "And I would also like to appoint our dear friend the seven dwarfs, along with their seven cousins, as the official royal guardians of our future little prince or princess. That is, they may be in charge of looking after and taking care of him or her while we are away on important matters of state."

Everyone applauded once again and the dwarfs all looked most surprised and delighted at Snow White's unexpected decision.

After the banquet had ended there was dancing and the dwarfs each found a dance partner. Jumpy jumped up and down a lot and he ended up stepping on people's toes often. Bigo-ego was the most dignified of the dwarfs at dancing. They made sure they each had a chance to dance with Snow White.

As Doc was dancing with Snow White he smiled and said to her, "We are very honored to have you appoint us as your unborn baby's royal guardians next to you and your Prince. But why would you want to bestow such and honor, and not to mention a responsibility on us of all people?"

Snow White just smiled and said, "Why, it's very simple. Because you took care of me when I needed it and I can tell easily that all of you will love the company of young children."

Doc knew she was right. Then after the dancing everyone said goodbye to each other and then the dwarfs were led upstairs again to retire to the rooms for the night.

Early the next morning the dwarfs were all awakened by the sound of a crowing rooster on their balcony. They all got up wondering as they did why a rooster would be at the royal castle, and then they saw Silly was standing on the balcony's ledge and doing a splendid imitation of a crowing rooster.

They then said goodbye to Snow White and Prince Charming and were then taken back to their cottage in the royal carriage.

The next day the dwarfs' cousins returned to their home on the other side of the kingdom as well, promising to come back and visit again soon.

Then, nine months later, the dwarfs received a letter from the bluebird letting them know that Snow White had just given birth to a baby princess and they were invited to come see her at the castle. They were all overjoyed as they went straight to the castle and met with the little baby princess who looked just like her mother with blackest hair, reddest cheeks, and skin as white as snow.

"Gosh, she's so beautiful," said Bashful sweetly. "Just like a baby angel."

"What are you going to name her?" asked Happy curiously.

"Snow Flake," Snow White told them with a smile.


End file.
